I've narrowed my choices down to Spitfire Joby Burgess percussion (at wishlist price) and true strike 1 (with the lovely xmas discount).
The only other percussion I have is MA1.
The spitfire seems more versatile with stand out tuned percussion that could carry a piece solo.
True strike seems to be a more cinematic sound and is obviously half the price.

I got the NI Symphonic Perc on BF and I am very happy with the Timpani and other drums. The Celeste, Bells etc, is not as excellent.
I think there is someone on this forum selling NI SP for about ~$120.

I've narrowed my choices down to Spitfire Joby Burgess percussion (at wishlist price) and true strike 1 (with the lovely xmas discount).
The only other percussion I have is MA1.
The spitfire seems more versatile with stand out tuned percussion that could carry a piece solo.
True strike seems to be a more cinematic sound and is obviously half the price.

I got the NI Symphonic Perc on BF and I am very happy with the Timpani and other drums. The Celeste, Bells etc, is not as excellent.
I think there is someone on this forum selling NI SP for about ~$120.

I got the NI Symphonic Perc on BF and I am very happy with the Timpani and other drums. The Celeste, Bells etc, is not as excellent.
I think there is someone on this forum selling NI SP for about ~$120.

I'd say Spitfire is the way to go for you, or True Strike if keeping costs down (will be better than NI), although I'm just going by reputation for True Strike, as I don't have it myself to compare.

Spitfire's percussion is simply wonderful sounding. I use it all the time. It's getting on a bit now in age, but that doesn't matter, it still sounds great for pretty much the entire range of the instruments. There's more than enough variety in there, and ability to hold its own as solo, at least in an orchestral context.

Berlin is excellent, but you don't get the timpani with it, and it is higher in price even then. It is worth it if you need the greater variety it offers vs. Spitfire, and some instruments sound better than Spitfire (I'm looking at you bass drum), but then some of Spitfire's instruments I like better than Berlin's, like the Celeste. You'd only get this if you want to match to other OT products, or need the extra variety (which generally you don't).

I picked up EW HOP diamond last month and have been using it in projects. The two mark tree patches are really useful. The timpani is really nice and thoroughly sampled but I was disappointed with the sleigh bells, celesta and glock. They each seem to have only 3 sample layers per note which doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade over Symphonic Orchestra Percussion which they did 15 years ago. The dynamic levels are not smooth either. I guess you get what you pay for. If I had paid Spitfire prices I would be pretty unhappy.

Here’s a test I did with the glock. Notice the extreme change in the sound between velocity 60 and 61. The same thing happens at 120 and 121.

I'd say Spitfire is the way to go for you, or True Strike if keeping costs down (will be better than NI), although I'm just going by reputation for True Strike, as I don't have it myself to compare.

Spitfire's percussion is simply wonderful sounding. I use it all the time. It's getting on a bit now in age, but that doesn't matter, it still sounds great for pretty much the entire range of the instruments. There's more than enough variety in there, and ability to hold its own as solo, at least in an orchestral context.

Berlin is excellent, but you don't get the timpani with it, and it is higher in price even then. It is worth it if you need the greater variety it offers vs. Spitfire, and some instruments sound better than Spitfire (I'm looking at you bass drum), but then some of Spitfire's instruments I like better than Berlin's, like the Celeste. You'd only get this if you want to match to other OT products, or need the extra variety (which generally you don't).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice everyone!
Sounds like I would have been pretty satisfied with either, however I went with Spitfire JB percussion in the end as it seemed a little more versatile with the outstanding tuned percussion + I have the more trailer-y stuff in MA1.